Bloodline [h.s.]

thirty-nine.

Horrific images of the last twenty-four hours tormented my thoughts. Raw, unrestrained fear, beating through her chest as I held her, witnessing the light leave her eyes as they rolled back into her her head. Bee was lucky to even be alive, and that alone felt like an impending dagger in my chest.

Despite all this pain inflicted on her, what she feared most was the possibility that she had taken a life regardless of whose it was. That is her sparkling purity. She is good. My treacherous past and present continued to chip away at her polished perfection as long as I allowed.

As I drove up to my destination, Kora stood leaning against the trunk of a tree, looking impatient. I left my jacket on the seat as I close the door behind me. Countless shadows of leaves and branches lurked above us, the only witnesses to the sins I was about to commit.

"Took you long enough. He's awake and he is pissed." She complained.

"Of course he is. Why are you waiting out here?" I asked as I rolled up my sleeves.

"I got bored of listening to all the ways he plans to kill me when we let him out." She shrugged.

"You don't have to worry about that."

"Wait, why? Aiden, you aren't going to kill him. You can't." She stepped in front of me, setting her hands on my shoulders to stop me from going inside.

"Bridget nearly died yesterday. The doctor just told her she cannot speak for two weeks because of what he did to her. I'm getting answers, then, he is dead. If he doesn't talk, he is also dead." I growled. After how much pain she was in this morning, the doctor discovered the source of her pain was a laryngeal injury from the trauma.

"Do you even know what answers you're looking for? You said it yourself, Bridget hasn't been able to even tell you what happened that night." She reasoned.

"It doesn't matter. He's a time bomb." I snapped.

"He is the only family I have, and he was yours too until recently. A year ago, you wouldn't have given a fuck what he did to her. You sure as hell would not dreamed of killing him over it. This is you acting on emotion, not strategy. Whether you like it or not, we need him."

I walked passed her to go inside, dismissive of her objections. A level of anger that hadn't peaked like this in years heated my blood to a new high of a boiling point. Enough is enough. I rolled up my sleeves as I entered the room. The fury I felt when I saw Kai's smug face was volcanic, and the lava was the colour of her suffering.

"Good morning, Aiden."

* * *

A stolen taste of her sweet, heart shaped lips.

The discreet journey of my fingertips along the golden coast of her legs.

Sandy blonde waves brushing against my nose as I whispered forbidden thoughts in her ear.

Rose tinted cheeks when we wrote those thoughts into text messages.

That is all we get, since she was discharged from hospital to her family's house two weeks ago.

Bee had been a little too okay after what happened. Since the concussion kept her from work, she found every excuse possible to stay preoccupied, from shopping with Cara to taking care of her siblings instead of their nanny. She insisted on working out everyday despite her injuries and my objections. The one thing I agreed on with her parents was that she needed rest.